Pedagogical Institute 2012: May 14 through May 25

This year’s Pedagogical Institute offers 15 different classes and workshops, including two workshops presented by the Buffalo State National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) campus affiliate team. The first, Welcoming Diversity and Inclusion, is an all-day workshop; the second, Principles of Diversity in and out of the Classroom, runs from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Next year, the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center will partner with Buffalo State’s NCBI team to offer such workshops to students in service-learning courses so that students have additional ways to understand their experiences as they learn from the people they encounter in service-learning courses. Faculty members are invited to attend either or both sessions for their own professional development, and to determine if NCBI’s offerings would be a useful addition to upcoming courses.

Lisa Hunter, assistant dean of intellectual foundations and first-year programs, has organized workshops for Buffalo State Learning Communities faculty and professional staff. First-year programs will offer ten Learning Communities in fall 2012.

Campus Experts
Sue McMillen, director of faculty development, is presenting several pedagogical options, including the use of case studies and strategies for shifting responsibility for learning to the students by providing additional opportunities for active and collaborative work in the classroom.

Other campus experts will share their expertise. Bruce Bryski, associate professor of communication, will present an overview of public speaking and oral communication that may be useful to those teaching courses that include an oral presentation. Michelle Ninacs, assistant professor and director of the College Writing Program, will discuss post-process pedagogy, which the program advocates. Beth Burns, instructional designer with Instructional Resources, will review the use of VYou, VoiceThread and Google Picasa Slideshows as ways to include online “face time” into courses. Crucial Conversations: Communicating in the Workplace and Transforming Awkward Moments into Insight and Learning: Strategies for Handling Student Comments and Disclosures about Sexual Harassment and Assault will also be presented.

Visiting Experts
Several experts will visit campus to share their expertise. Daniel P. Gaile, assistant professor of biostatistics at UB; Jim Java, biostatistician at the Gynecologic Oncology Group; and Lori A. Kirchgraber, bioinformatics programmer/analyst at Roswell Park Cancer Institute will present An Introduction to R. R is a flexible and powerful open-source statistical programming language with an expanding set of data analytic and visualization capabilities. Molly Marren, director of technology in the Grand Island Central School District will facilitate a hands-on session about teaching with an interactive white board.

Paul Hanstedt, author of Hong Konged: One Modern American Family's (Mis)adventures in the Gateway to China (July 2012) and General Education Essentials: A Guide for College Faculty (2012), will present Critical Thinking in General Education and Beyond: Developing Effective Assignments and Pedagogies. In this workshop,participants will explore questions about critical thinking in the context of their own teaching, and develop pedagogies to help students develop their critical-thinking skills.

Preregistration is required.